The pole vault exercise is one of the most difficult events to master in track and field. The event consists of two parts, these being:
(1) The approach and takeoff; the athlete sprints toward the bar, he then plants a pole into the box thereby propelling himself in the air.
(2) The "rock-back" and clearance; the athlete swings to an upside down position. As he accelerates towards the horizontal clearance bar, he then re-aligns his body, so that he is facing the bar. He then uses the pole for leverage to facilitate clearing the bar.
The present invention lends itself to mastering the second, and most difficult part, or technique involved in the exercise.
There are various reasons why this technique cannot be easily learned and practiced in a recurring manner, these being:
(1) The athlete, being in the air, and oriented in an unfamiliar position, may tend to be apprehensive, and therefore cannot concentrate on the technique.
(2) The first part of the exercise, or the approach is both time consuming and energy depriving, and lends itself to a lack of concentration on the second part of the exercise,
(3) The proper positioning and orientation of the athlete cannot be aided by a coach or assistant, if the exercise is done in a continuous procedure, i.e. from the approach to the clearing of the bar.
The lack of practicing the aforementioned technique in this manner, lends itself to a lack of mastering the finer and more intricate points of the pole vault technique.